Association between changes in the mRNA expression of platelet-activating factor receptor in peripheral blood mononuclear cells and progression of diabetic nephropathy.

Introduction: Several studies have recently pointed out the role of many inflammatory mediators in the progression of diabetes complications. We had previously demonstrated that mRNA expression of platelet-activating factor receptor (PAFR) in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) was associated with urinary albumin to creatinine ratio (ACR) and forearm flow-mediated dilatation in patients with type 2 diabetes. In an attempt to elucidate this association, patients were followed up for 1 year.

A Thyroid-stimulating Hormone (TSH) Producing Adenoma in a Patient with Severe Hypothyroidism: Thyroxine Replacement Reduced the TSH Level and Tumor Size.

We treated an extremely rare thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH)-producing pituitary adenoma in a 63-year-old woman with severe hypothyroidism due to autoimmune thyroiditis. She was presented with dizziness and fatigue. The blood level of TSH, prolactin, and fT4 was 288.

Effects of glycemic control and hypoglycemia on Thrombus formation assessed using automated microchip flow chamber system: an exploratory observational study.

Background: Thrombus formation is an important factor affecting cardiovascular events and venous thromboembolism in type 2 diabetes. However, it is unclear whether glycemic control reduces thrombogenicity. We investigated the effect of short-term glycemic control (STUDY 1) and hypoglycemia (STUDY 2) on thrombus formation using an automated microchip flow chamber system.

Sellar Xanthogranuloma: A Quest Based on Nine Cases Assessed with an Anterior Pituitary Provocation Test.

Background: Xanthogranuloma is a chronic inflammatory mass characterized by cholesterol crystal deposition, which is rarely seen in the sellar region. The objective of this study is to identify the clinical features and cause of sellar xanthogranulomas.

Methods: We retrospectively analyzed manifestation, radiographic, and endocrinologic presentation in 9 patients (7 women and 2 men) whom we had previously treated.

Postoperative Changes in Metabolic Parameters of Patients with Surgically Controlled Acromegaly: Assessment of New Stringent Cure Criteria.

The criteria for surgical cure of acromegaly have become more stringent during the past decades and a change from Cortina to new consensus criteria has recently been proposed. However, the superiority of the new consensus over Cortina criteria with respect to postoperative metabolic parameters remains to be ascertained. We retrospectively assessed metabolic parameters, the body habitus, and other health-related parameters of 48 patients with surgically controlled acromegaly who met the Cortina criteria [normalized insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) level and nadir growth hormone (GH) level <1.

The Combination Therapy of Fenofibrate and Ezetimibe Improved Lipid Profile and Vascular Function Compared with Statins in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes.

Aim: Elevated level of serum triglyceride (TG) is a characteristic of type 2 diabetes. We evaluated the clinical significance of intervention for the serum TG levels in the fasting and postprandial states in patients with type 2 diabetes.

Methods: Fifty patients with type 2 diabetes, treated with statins, were selected and divided into two groups.

Changes in quality of life in patients with acromegaly after surgical remission - A prospective study using SF-36 questionnaire.

Patients with acromegaly have a compromised quality of life (QOL). Modern surgical techniques have improved the surgical cure rate. However, there are no prospective studies reporting postoperative changes in QOL among patients cured solely by surgery.

Treatable glomerular hyperfiltration in patients with active acromegaly.

Objective: The glomerular filtration rate (GFR) is increased in patients with active acromegaly. The aim of this study is to elucidate whether renal function deteriorates in patients with acromegaly and whether this deterioration is reversible after surgical remission.

Design/methods: A case-control study of 48 acromegalic patients who were surgically cured (cases) and 48 patients with nonfunctioning pituitary adenomas (NFomas, controls) was conducted.

Investigation of the clinical significance of the growth hormone-releasing peptide-2 test for the diagnosis of secondary adrenal failure.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the ability of the growth hormone-releasing peptide-2 (GHRP-2) test to clinically diagnose hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis failure. We performed an insulin tolerance test (ITT), CRH stimulation test, and GHRP-2 test on 47 patients suspected of having a hypothalamo-pituitary disorder. Patients with pituitary disorders had significantly lower ACTH responses to the GHRP-2 test compared to patients with hypothalamic disorders and the control group.

FDG-PET/CT and FLT-PET/CT for differentiating between lipid-poor benign and malignant adrenal tumours.

Objective: To compare F-18-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) and F-18-fluorothymidine (FLT) PET/CT examinations for differentiating between benign and malignant adrenal tumours.

Methods: Thirty lipid-poor benign and 11 malignant tumours of 40 patients were included. FDG- and FLT-based indices including visual score, maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax) and FDG adrenal lesion/liver SUVmax (A/L SUVmax) or FLT adrenal lesion/back muscle SUVmax (A/B SUVmax) ratio were compared between benign and malignant tumours using the Mann-Whitney's U or Wilcoxon signed-rank test, and their diagnostic performances were evaluated by means of the area under the curve (AUC) values derived from the receiver operating characteristic analysis.

Thyroid storm induced by TSH-secreting pituitary adenoma: a case report.

Thyroid stimulating hormone-secreting pituitary adenomas (TSHomas) are uncommon tumors of the anterior pituitary gland. Patients with TSHomas may present with hyperthyroidism, but the incidence of thyroid storm due to TSHomas has yet to be determined. We report a rare case of thyroid storm caused by TSHoma in a 54-year-old woman.

Abcb10 role in heme biosynthesis in vivo: Abcb10 knockout in mice causes anemia with protoporphyrin IX and iron accumulation.

Abcb10, member 10 of the ABC transporter family, is reportedly a part of a complex in the mitochondrial inner membrane with mitoferrin-1 (Slc25a37) and ferrochelatase (Fech) and is responsible for heme biosynthesis in utero. However, it is unclear whether loss of Abcb10 causes pathological changes in adult mice. Here, we show that Abcb10(-/-) mice lack heme biosynthesis and erythropoiesis abilities and die in midgestation.

Severe growth hormone deficiency is rare in surgically-cured acromegalics.

Growth hormone deficiency (GHD) in surgically-cured acromegalics has been reported to negatively affect their metabolic condition and quality of life (QOL). The incidence of GHD, its causes, and its effects on their physio-psychological condition remain to be examined in detail. We performed a retrospective study to investigate GH secretory function in surgically-cured acromegalics, prognostic factors of GHD, and its impact on QOL.

TLR4, IL-6, IL-18, MyD88 and HMGB1 are highly expressed in intracranial inflammatory lesions and the IgG4/IgG ratio correlates with TLR4 and IL-6.

We determined distribution of plasma cells and IgG4/IgG index and factors associated with the index in intracranial inflammatory lesions. Specimens of nine patients were analyzed immunohistochemically using antibodies against CD45, CD68, CD3, CD4, CD8, CD20, CD138, lambda chain, kappa chain, IgG, IgG4, IL-1α, IL-6, IL-18, toll-like receptor (TLR) 2, TLR4, high-mobility group box 1 (HMGB1), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), myeloid differentiation factor 88 (MyD88), and anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK). The relationship between all the factors was assessed using Spearman's rank correlation coefficient (ρ).

Gradual declination of IGF-1 over a year after transsphenoidal adenomectomy of GH producing pituitary adenomas.

To know the longitudinal shift of blood IGF-1 of cured acromegaly, we conducted retrospective survey of changes in blood IGF-1 over two years, which has not been previously investigated. Blood IGF-1 levels were measured for longer than 2 years after TSS in 37 patients whose nadir GH during postoperative oral glucose tolerance test (OGTt) was under 1 ng/mL. Blood IGF-1 very gradually declined after three months; 230.

Restoration of miR-517a expression induces cell apoptosis in bladder cancer cell lines.

The aim of this study was to find novel tumor suppressor microRNAs through screening genes epigenetically silenced by methylation in bladder cancer (BC) cell lines using microRNA microarrays. Since miR-517a and miR-520g, both located on chromosome 19q13.42, were found to highly up-regulated genes after treatment with a demethylating agent, 5-aza-2'-deoxycytidine (5-Aza-dc), we hypothesized that they are tumor-suppressor microRNAs and performed a gain-of-function study using these mature microRNAs.

Concordant and discordant adrenocorticotropin (ACTH) responses induced by growth hormone-releasing peptide-2 (GHRP-2), corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) and insulin-induced hypoglycemia in patients with hypothalamopituitary disorders: evidence for direct ACTH releasing activity of GHRP-2.

The insulin-induced hypoglycemia test (insulin tolerance test: ITT) and corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) test are used to examine the activities of the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. Growth hormone-releasing peptide-2 (GHRP-2), a potent GH secretagogue, also stimulates adrenocorticotropin (ACTH) secretion. To evaluate the role of GHRP-2 in assessing the HPA axis, we examined 6 patients with various hypothalamo-pituitary disorders, and measured ACTH and cortisol responses during provocative tests (ITT, CRH, and GHRP-2 test).

Correlation between distal left anterior descending artery flow velocity by transthoracic Doppler echocardiography and corrected TIMI frame count before mechanical reperfusion in patients with anterior acute myocardial infarction.

Background: This study was designed to determine the utility of transthoracic Doppler echocardiography (TTDE) in evaluating angiographic Thrombolysis in Myocardial Infarction (TIMI) frame count as a quantitative index of coronary reperfusion in patients with anterior acute myocardial infarction (AMI) before mechanical reperfusion.

Methods And Results: Color and pulsed TTDE was performed to evaluate distal left anterior descending coronary artery (LAD) reperfusion in 56 consecutive patients with a first anterior AMI before coronary intervention, and these findings were compared with the corrected TIMI frame count (cTFC) by subsequent angiography. Twenty-four of the 56 patients had LAD reperfusion (TIMI 2 or 3) by angiography.